How to Approach the Piano With Long-Term Goals (Solo vs Accompaniment)
Pianists broadly split into accompanists, who support a melody with chords, rhythm and bass, and solo players, who carry melody and accompaniment together, and Jason Zac recommends building both through a bottom-up approach that starts from chords, left-hand patterns and timing rather than the melody.
Key points
- Pianists are broadly accompanists or solo players, and each role needs different skills.
- Accompanists use block chords, broken chords, arpeggios, syncopated patterns and genre-specific grooves, with the right hand acting like a guitar and the left hand like a bass.
- Singers, producers and band players benefit most from accompaniment skills, especially chords, rhythm and playing to a metronome.
- For solo piano, sing the tune, accompany it, move the pattern into the left hand, then add the melody and ornaments.
- A bottom-up approach that builds the left hand first is more future-proof than a melody-first, top-down approach.
This talk by Jason Zac of Nathaniel School of Music is for anyone starting the piano or partway through their journey who wants to know what to practise for a specific goal. That goal might be singing and playing, producing music, playing in a band or choir, or playing solo piano.
The two types of piano player
Keyboard players fall broadly into accompanists and solo pianists. An accompanist always works with someone else, even if that is only their own voice. They rarely play the melody. Apart from the odd filler at the end of a bar, they hold a rhythm pattern over the chord progression.
Accompaniment tools
- Block chords: all the notes together, with rhythmic hit points based on the subdivision and genre.
- Broken chords: the chord split into pieces.
- Arpeggios: the chord fully broken up.
- Syncopated, drum-like patterns: the hands alternate like a kick and snare.
- A steady right hand with a moving bass: the creativity goes into the left hand, which moves between the roots of the chords.
- Idiomatic genre patterns: for example, blues phrases or salsa montunos.
Think of the piano as more than one instrument
The right hand acts like a guitar or banjo, strumming or picking chords around middle C and above. The left hand thinks like a bass player. It plays sparse bass lines at specific hit points rather than full block chords.
An accompanist also controls the energy of a song. Soft playing with subtle volume changes suits some patterns. Mixing staccato with legato can create a theatrical effect.
Where accompanists work
- Singer-songwriters: piano helps with vocal drills and with writing melodies. Over a G minor chord (G Bb D), you can sing any of those three notes. Changing the chord can then inspire a new melody.
- Playing for a friend at a cafe, pub or venue.
- Choirs: singers and conductor rely on you for timing and pitch. One mistake can make the whole choir lose its place.
- Rock bands: you might play riffs, bass lines or counter-lines, and you follow the drums.
- Production and arrangement: recording in a DAW with MIDI means playing in time at a set tempo. Practising with a metronome is essential.
Solo piano: build it from the bottom up
Jason sees himself as a functional musician first. To prepare a solo arrangement, he suggests this order:
- Sing the melody and work out the chords.
- Accompany your own voice with a chosen pattern, getting comfortable with the timing.
- Move that whole accompaniment pattern into the left hand alone.
- Add the melody in the right hand over the left-hand pattern.
- Only then add ornaments and fillers. Never simplify the left hand to make room for them.
Top-down vs bottom-up
Top-down learning starts by perfecting the melody. The left hand often ends up as bare roots or a basic root, fifth and octave pattern. Many exam systems, beginner YouTube tutorials and arranger-keyboard auto-accompaniment encourage this approach.
Bottom-up learning develops the left-hand pattern first. A pattern learnt for one song carries over to many others, like a tennis serve you can rely on. This approach also builds theory, ear training, timing and reading, and it gives your exercises real context.
How to practise for your goal
- Singer-songwriter: focus on chords, inversions, smooth chord changes and rhythm patterns across genres. For a 45-minute set you need about ten songs. Check that your singing, emotion, timing and stage presence stay intact while you play.
- Producer: train your ear and theory so you can transpose and harmonise. Get strong at chords, counting and playing to a metronome.
- Band player: listen to everyone else first and treat your own part as the least important.
- Solo pianist: sing, accompany, then bring the melody into the right hand over a full left-hand pattern.
Respect the process and aim for long-term results, not just the next song.
Questions about this lesson
What is the difference between a solo pianist and an accompanist?
An accompanist supports a singer or other instrument with chords, rhythm and bass, and rarely plays the melody. A solo pianist plays the melody and the accompaniment together and carries all the pressure alone.
Should a singer learn piano?
Yes. Piano helps you practise vocal exercises and gives you chords to build melodies from, such as singing G, Bb or D over a G minor chord. Singers should focus on chords, inversions and rhythm patterns rather than virtuoso classical pieces.
What is the bottom-up approach to solo piano?
You develop a full left-hand accompaniment pattern first, then add the melody in the right hand, and only then add ornaments. The melody never forces you to simplify the left hand.
What should a music producer practise on piano?
Ear training and theory for transposing and harmonising melodies, solid chord knowledge, counting, and playing in time with a metronome so you can record at a set tempo.
Practise it
- Groove MetronomeWork with tempo, accents and polyrhythms instead of a single unchanging click.
- Pop LessonsPractice companions for Jason Zac’s pop piano lessons: octave fillers, chord changes and inversions in every key.
- Piano classes at Nathaniel School of MusicLive online or in Bangalore, with a teacher.
- All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.
Related lessons
- 3 Old-School Country Piano Rhythms for Easy AccompanimentOld-school country piano accompaniment uses I, IV and V chords, with the left hand alternating root and fifth while the right hand plays the chords in a waltz, two-beat or swung Western swing pattern.
- Make Simple Chords Sound Pro: Country Piano SecretsTo make simple country chords like G, D, A and Bm sound professional on piano, voice every chord in the right hand with the same note (D) on top, add the A in between for colour, and support it with left-hand root octaves or root-and-fifth.
- The Floating Fifth Chord: Emotional Solo Piano Harmony With Minimal MovementThe floating fifth is a left-hand piano technique where the pinky holds a bass root as a whole note while the thumb plays the fifth on every offbeat, and then the pinky moves to new roots (in Bb minor: Bb, Gb, Ab) while the thumb stays on F, implying full chords without muddy triads.
- One Left-Hand Pattern for Folk and Pop Piano (Works on Almost Any Song)Hold A and D on top of a D major shape while the lower fingers float through the diatonic thirds of D major (D-F#, E-G, F#-A and so on), and you get a banjo-like left-hand accompaniment that fits almost any folk or pop melody.